Paragus Rants

Rants, reviews, and interviews from an MMO veteran and guild leader. Join me in an objective discussion about what went right, what went wrong, and simply how it is.

Author: Paragus1

Darkfall: Community Q&A with Aventurine #2

It's been months since the original community Q&A with Aventurine, and much has changed in the last half year or so. Just in the recent weeks, AV has patched in some major balance changes, has a new expansion coming soon, changed the price of purchasing the game to only $30, and is now offering free trials. With all that has happened the last few months, I decided to check in with Aventurine to see if they would be willing to once again to field some questions from the Darkfall community.

Lucky for us they agreed, so now I'll turn things over to them!

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We delayed this QA as many of the questions asked are related to topics we cannot talk about yet or we don’t feel comfortable embelishing on. The reason we can’t has little to do with marketing and a lot to do with functionality. We are still testing features to be included in darkfall and we haven’t greenlighted many of the things that are under consideration. We didn’t want to delay the Q&A any longer so we’ve gone ahead and quickly addressed all the questions as best as we could, and we’re issuing a big IOU to the community as far as Darkfall 2010 information is concerned and more details on what we’re barely touching on here. We consider all these questions open and will answer them properly as soon as we can. The same goes for a lot of your questions and suggestions posted on the forums (and in other places) which we are tracking.

1) We've heard about DF 2010 plans and have had some screenshots of new models and tales of upcoming mounts and things you are working on, when can we expect to see the next significant expansion? – Squatch

We’ve missed ETAs on this next expansion due to the large terrain upgrade which is a pretty massive undertaking and connected to core systems of the game. We weren’t happy with final testing a few weeks ago so we had to go back and rethink a few things. We believe that the expansion will be ready to launch in less than a month. Darkfall 2010 comes after the next expansion and is a much bigger proposition. “Darkfall 2010” is our internal code name for this project. Our intent is to have it complete within the year, but we can’t rule out that it will take longer than that. We’ve been working on this for quite a while, it’s parallel development to Darkfall and almost as big a project as making a new game.

2) If possible, could you explain in detail any of the current prestige classes that are in the works for the Q4 expansion? - Dorn Divin, Alpha Legion

I’m afraid we can’t right now but the prestige classes will be getting their own special presentation when we can.

3) How many prestige classes will there be when they are released? - Hopeless eatsu

We’re not sure yet, but there will be enough to provide large diversity and many specialization options.

4) Will there be a boxed release any time soon? - Oboy Sweman, AlphaQ UP

There is a boxed version in Greece already, there will be one in Russia soon and we’re slowly moving to releasing more boxed versions across Europe and in North America.

5) Any chance of Darkfall showing up on Direct2Drive or Steam to increase marketing? - Cora
Mor

Darkfall is already on Direct2Drive and other Digital Distribution partners like GamersGate, Stardock/Impulse, Gamesload, Nexway, Zstorm, Metaboli etc. it will be on Amazon and hopefully on Steam and others before too long.

6) Are there any plans to limit schools of magic in order to allow mages to specialize in other schools? - Meaty Maggnus, Inquisition

Yes, some of the prestige classes we’re working on will allow for this.

7) Are there any plans to make warhulks even more common and attractive to use ? - Dirty Sjouks, DPS

Yes by considerably increasing their availability, making them cheaper. We’ve added the Fun Hulks for events and there are more changes coming to make warhulks as useful as possible.

8) Do you plan on putting a type of cloak or tabard to represent clans / alliances? - ogre SKG, NAVY SEALS

This is very high on our internal wish list and we hope to have something like this for DF2010

9) Are there any plans to make crafting more stylistically diverse? That is, different styles (not based on race) of leather, banded, colors and so on. - Silvyn Ghostwalker

Yes there are specific plans, we’re not sure exactly when they’ll be included but it’s something we’re currently working on.

10) Are there any new magic schools/spells in the works? - Happy Bear, Fraternity of Assassins III

No new magic schools in the works, but there are several new spells coming.

11) Is Aventurine working on eradicating the stuttering that occurs when another player approaches you or spawns nearby? - Raff Raff, Nomads

We’re constantly working on improving performance, this particular issue has to do with hardware, the open world, no instances etc. It’s an unfortunate side effect. We’re looking to enhance some core elements that should help it considerably but in all honesty there is no magic bullet.

12) I chose Mahirim race for the 4-legged run when the game was released and I am still waiting. Should I stop hoping for it or is there any plans on implementing it in a close future? - Xzyzz ZyXz

It’s pretty unlikely, however as races keep getting differentiated, if we can reasonably balance this we would love to add it. The 4-legged run as functionality goes is complete, our main problem is that it is an unbalancing factor.

13) Villages and seatowers were an excellent addition to Darkfall, but are there any plans to further stimulate PVP within Agon? - Kizzay Entreri, Black

Further Improvements to villages and Sea Fortresses and other PvP elements are afoot. And of course more coming. We have many plans for more land-based pvp centric additions other than the villages.

14) Why the change from 3 days to 10 days on the Sea Tower instead of augmenting it's live times per server? - Wild Wood, Calamitous

We wanted to make them more special and more epic when they go live, that’s why we increased their rewards. We understand the random timing might be an issue and we’re looking into it.

15) Why was mounted damage reduced so drastically, given that many earlier patches have seen mount nerfs already? - Ban Hammer

This was obviously done for balancing purposes, we’ve been testing and following user feedback and most people polled agree that it was a move towards the right direction. We’ll keep looking at this and making adjustments as needed.

16) Any plans for Archery to get some secondary skills or utilities? - Izure Blackweb

We’re working on several new additions to archery in connection to the prestige classes.

17) What can we expect to see happen to Archery to make it more attractive as a primary play-style? - Rok Strike, Dark Hand of Valor

What we said in the question above, also, we’re going to offer more weapon types and ammunition types for archers

18) Do you have any plans to add an extra hotbar to the user interface? - Talon X, VAMP

We’re re-making the entire interface.

19) Are there any plans to introduce race changes when launching the new character models / textures etc.? - Cyndane Vidane

We’re working racial differentiation and it’s certain that more changes will come. Balanced racial differentiation is an ongoing project for us and we’ll keep working on this and adding new elements indefinitely.


20) Have Aventurine considered a server merge between EU and US servers and situate the server on east coast US or Iceland? - Lord Seph

No we haven’t, we’re actually looking into opening up more servers long-term as population increases through the free trial and other initiatives, like Darkfall digital distribution partner availability, local distributors etc. We’re also speaking with partners in Asia about offering Asian servers as there seems to be strong interest in the game.

21) Will there be a shift towards a more racially charged Agon, where it would be beneficial to have a single race clan rather than an ARAC? - Shyheim Tolkein

We’ve been continuously working on this and will keep doing that, always focusing on keeping things balanced.

22) Is there any plans to make bolts more viable in PvP? - Anarchy Explosion, The Black Company

Some players feel that bolts are already viable in PvP. We understand where the question is coming from however and are actually looking into this.

23) Is the Current Alignment System working as intended, and if not what are the future plans for modifying the Alignment System ? - Morad Wrothmarch

We have plans to do some things to improve it and make it more versatile, we feel for the time being that it’s adequate. We’re also looking into adding more controls as ways that improve your alignment.

24) Any plans for adding new dungeons and dungeon-related content to Agon? - Lord Abominax

We have major plans for dungeons and dungeon related content. You should be able to start seeing some of these in the next expansion.

25) Will you change the texture of the sea to make it more beautiful, maybe with waves if possible? - Deimos Shadowblade

Possibly, for Darkfall 2010. We used to have waves as old timers will remember from a pre-beta video released early on after a clan leader visit to our studios. There were issues at the time which forced us to take them out but we’d like to give it another look.

26) Any plans for introducing Mounted Archery? - Ktorr Shadowfell

Not yet, but this is something we’re keeping in mind.

27) Any update on any sort of official alliance system that may or may not be in the works? - Taylorias Starguard, Nox

We have no current plans for an official alliance system.

28) With skills like Sprint, Run, Swimming, etc, no matter how one plays their character those skills will eventually hit 100, and their primary use today is for stat-gain (swimming to gain vit/str). Are there any plans for a revamp with such skills to bring some decision and real functionality to them? - SynCaine GodHand, Blood

This being a pvp game, and for balancing purposes we want it to work this way for the time being. There are no specific plans to make changes in this area at the moment.

29) Can we have the option to place vendors at player hamlets/cities? - Asnar Grafton, MoD

Most likely, this is under consideration.

30) Are there any plans to add small scale PvP content such as an upgrade of rewards for capping villages? - Without Remorse, Alpha Q Up

We are changing the reward system for villages soon.

31) What plans are there to make viable the Sandbox crafting economy, in relation to mob dropped loot? - Shiva Firewing

We’re working on several things, one example is adding many craftable-only items to the game.

32) Any plans on introducing some kind of bank type that can be reached for the whole alliance? - Sacra Luna, SUN

There are no plans for an alliance bank.

33) Are there any plans to add some kind of salvaging Skill? - Rochus Beerbelly, Pandora

This is something which is planned but low priority at the moment.

34) Does Aventurine still plan on releasing 3 expansions a year as stated prior to Darkfall's commercial release or have these plans changed? - CattBoy SiN, Zealot

We did 2 in the first year, along with 30 patches, most of which were very large; this year we’re hoping to release a massive update which is as good as several expansions. Our goal isn’t the number of expansions, it’s based on how things need to be done. For example we could break up the Darkfall 2010 project into several expansions but that wouldn’t be what’s best for the game. It’s the game itself that’s determining what needs to be done, and when we said 3 expansions per year it was our estimate before we knew how the game would need to evolve. We believe that at the end of the day, we’re actually giving more to the game than what we orignally estimated.

35) The introduction of cargo holds to ships has already been announced, along with the ability of cities to prevent raiders from using their banks. What is the extent of this localization process, and will this end goal include local / regional banking? - Comrade Zaffa

We’re working towards regional and local economies, not so much towards local banking.

36) What plans does AV have to improve clan / alliance customization and further additions to city construction? - Tony Perkis

We’re rolling out a political map in the near future and several other clan tools. We also have several plans for additions to clan cities.

37) Are there any plans to implement a treasure hunting skill? You collect different rank treasure maps. Use the skill to decode the map. Navigate to the cords. Dig up the treasure. - Grim Creaper, Grief

No but a similar feature is on its way for the next expansion.

38) Will weather ever play a major role in naval combat as was originally announced back in early beta? - Korvos Sly

We’re working on making this feature less annoying than it was during original testing.

39) Are their any plans to give Darkfall a more interactive, more detailed world? Such as books on bookshelves actually being readable (with reference to game lore or perhaps even small bonuses to skills), the ability to sit on chairs, and more interiors for buildings which are currently just props - Farrel Calhoun

Yes we’re working towards further improving the interactivity but some of these requests are low priority at the moment. As far as the detailed world, there are several people working exclusively on adding thousands of details to the world. These additions get lost in patch notes filed under “updated areas” which nobody seems to pay attention to, while there has been a tremendous amount of work put into them.

40) Will you ever remove the siege / political change global system messages? - Zig Zag, Lux Arcana

No we happen to like the messages. Why do you want them removed?

41) Are you considering taking away spell fail rate when someone has 0 magic encumbrance in order to get rid of the luck factor it plays in pvp and reward mages who don't spec out in a hybrid suit of armor? - Vhaeraun Baenre, Outnumbered

No we’re not considering this yet, but we plan to reward mages a different way soon.

42) Are there any plans to remove fizzling spells? This helps destroyers far more than mages because fizzling of unburden or the already weaker heal spells frequently determines the outcome of the fight, rather than skill. - Nacitar Sevaht, Desperate Housewives

Same answer as above.

43) Will we ever see NPC driven race alliances being able to fight other race alliances for control of territory? - Xpiher Duminous , Desperate HouseHusbands

Never say never, but probably not.

44) Are there any plans to remove the ability for a City's cannons to destroy it's own walls? It seems rather broken that someone can take down your city's walls with its own cannons. - Jayro Bloodfist, FOURTWENTY

It’s pretty realistic actually, but we understand where you’re coming from. This is one of the things on our to-do list, that’s been there for a long time and keeps getting pushed down by more important or urgent things coming up. We’ll get to it eventually.

45) Are there any plan to introduce ambient and environmental sounds (wind, rain / waterfalls, wildlife etc.) ? - Phoboss Woodblade

There was a spotlight on this topic, along with a teaser video here:
http://forums.darkfallonline.com/showthr...p?t=251965
Darkfall will soon feature one of the most advanced environmental sound systems. We think it’s quite amazing. It’s difficult to get the full effect from the video, but this addition will considerably improve the user experience.

46) What is AV's take on the current Darkfall population and what plans are being implemented to increase the active playerbase of Darkfall. - Type Forced, Undead Lords

This is our slower season for player activity and there have been ups and downs in active accounts in the past, but we’re currently growing at a pretty steady rate with the free trial going, Darkfall being offered on digital distribution channels, various local partnerships, and many other initiatives we’re working on should help the population to keep growing.

47) Pre-beta there was talk of roaming mobs who would gain experience from others mobs or players they killed and would eventually spawn a small army of mobs around them and be able to attack player cities. Is there any plan for ever getting this into the game? Tyrelan Theel - VAMP

Actually we’re working in this direction, the summer expansion is mostly about PvE. Darkall’s monsters already gain skill and there are many more plans along these lines which should be implemented very soon.

48) Will we ever see Player Deaths from fall damage? - Champion Sacred, Vamp

No, there are plenty of things that will kill you in Darkfall, we don’t want players to die due to knockbacks, lag, or random factors.

49) Do you plan on revamping the placement of house in the near future or just adding new villages/new spot in existing villages? - Owh Wooah, Covert Operations

Yes we’re adding both new villages and housing slots.

50) Will we be given more tools to play with in the sandbox? (Something else to do other than PvP or PvE against mobs) - Draus Thorn

You mean like Fun Hulks and Use Flags? We’re working on a lot of things along these lines, we’re just not feeling the love.

51) Are there any plans on providing end game 'raid' style PvE content? - Opeth VtW, Outnumbered

We are moving towards more end game pve content with the total dungeon revamp. But we don’t have plans to do instancing.

52) Character customization is another way of making people feel more attached to their characters. When are we going to see some more customization of our characters being possible? (dyes / dyeable robes or further cloth accessories that are external to armor.) - Many Marsh

Several of the things you mentioned are in the works as we speak.

53) Is there anything in the works to expand or add more land to the world? (e.g. places like Niff / Ruby / Cairn / Yssam or underground / above ground content) Ezekiul Skullcrusher, Grief

We have enough land as it is. We are adding new dungeons however and there is constant worldbuilding to improve what we currently have.

54) Are there currently any plans for alternative methods of travel on land, specifically in the forms of stage coaches or chariots? - Rigan Peer, Nomads

No plans currently but we’re considering adding a portal system.

55) It is currently virtually impossible for a player to be a successful full-time crafter due to basic materials (wood, iron ore, herbs, etc.) and armor / weapons being easier to come by through killing mobs than gathering and crafting; Are there any plans to make full-time crafting more viable and lucrative as a playstyle? - Kimoshu Grakenshalmn

We have specific plans to considerably improve crafting, We’re adding craftable only items, rare ores to metal nodes, and we’re always evaluating and looking for new ways to boost crafting..

56) Are there any plans for rare / unique recipe drops for crafting weapons and armor? - Kaok Stinkbane, ANG

There are currently no plans for rare or unique recipe drops.

57) Are there any plans to make EVERY spell useful by rebalancing their damage, AOE, projectile speed, mana cost, cast time etc, or adding powerful secondary effects (knockbacks, blinds) to bring them up to par with other spells of the same category? - Bomanz Beezlebub, ZzZzZ

We’re currently running evaluations of all spells in the game. We’ve recently added more dedicated designers to the team to do this, as well as to help evaluate the balance and the usefullness of everything in the game. You should start seeing improvements in all areas.

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I would just like to thank Aventurine for taking the time to field the questions, and also the Darkfall community for your participation, patience, and support.

Paragus Rant
Co-Leader of Inquisition

EDIT: Aventurine has added a bit more information in response to player feedback from this Q&A.  It is quite lengthy and can be found HERE.

Review: League of Legends

League of Legends is a free to play RTS / RPG hybrid that originally released in the latter part of 2009, but recently launched it's "Season 1" patch which introduces the start of competitive play with ladder rankings.  While I normally don't write too often about non-MMO games here, I feel somewhat compelled to talk about this game for the sole reason that it has been getting a tremendous amount of playtime by me and many in my guild these last few weeks.

All I knew about LoL is that it was the same type of game as DotA and HoN, two games I had no interest in paying money for.  I can be a stubborn bastard when it comes to picking games I invest time into, and my guild literally had to drag me kicking and screaming into trying it.  The only reason I ended up trying it was that the price tag was free and some of my guys were looking for something to help kill time for Starcraft 2.  The irony in this situation is that part of me likes this game better than SC2.

For those of you who have no experience with the likes of DotA, HoN, or LoL, I'll try to give a brief overview of the gameplay.  Games are divided into teams of 5 vs 5 or 3 vs 3, and start in opposite corners of the map in a team base.  The object of the game is to destroy the center of the other team's base.  Each map is divided into "lanes" or paths that lead from your base to the enemy's.  Waves of weak NPC minions spawn and advance down all the lanes in short intervals, and try to push guard towers and ultimately into the enemy base.  Players choose a "champion" and fan out to help advance their minions in the lanes which ultimately leads to PvP battles with the enemy team.  As the game goes on, players earn exp and money for killing minions and others players, which are used to buy better items to try to overpower the other players.  The average game usually lasts between 25 minutes at the minimum, and it is not uncommon for games to go as long as 45 minutes or longer.  At the end of the game, IP and EXP are awarded to all players accounts (with the winning team gets more than losing team).

IP points can be cashed in at the store to on a variety of things, the main being access to new champions.  League of Legends currently features 55 different champions that all have their own unique abilities and stats.  All of the different champions are suited for different roles in the team, such as tank, DPS, support etc.  At the start of your career, you own no champions and have no points, but there are certain champions that are freely accessible to anyone for a week.  Once that week is over, another batch of champions are selected from the list for free access in a never ending random rotation.  This gives you the ability to try a variety of champions for free on any given week to get a feel for different playstyles.  Once you opt to spend your IP on a champion, he is yours to play with forever.

In addition to unlocking champions, IP may also be used to buy runes for your account.  Rune slots are unlocked as your account levels up, and each slot may be socketed with a rune of the matching type from the store.  Runes offer a wide array of bonuses to whatever champ your using and range from things like adding max HP, Crit Chance, Dodge, Cooldown Reduction just to name a few.  This allows players to customize their bonuses to fit the playstyle they want for the champ they are using.  The interface also has multiple pages for you to have 2 different rune layouts.  You may want more caster oriented runes for one champ, while you have have another page set aside for tanking.  Rune pages are selected at the start of every match after you pick your champion.

As I mentioned earlier, the other reward for playing in addition to the IP, are experience points for leveling up your game account.  Your PvP.net (League of Legends version of Battle.net) account start's at level 1 and can level up to 30.  Every level gained on your account unlocks rune slots and rewards mastery points which can be spent on talent trees.  Points can be allocated into offensive, defensive, and utility tress which are self-explanatory.  Like runes, these bonuses are applied to whatever champion you use and help to add another layer of character customization and tweaking, especially when combined with runes.  You can respec your mastery at no cost anytime you like, as much as you like.

Once your account reaches level 20, you become eligible to participate in the official ranked ladder matches that recently kicked off in the "Season One" update.  One of the main differences between the regular games and the ranked games is in the pregame section where champions are selected. In regular games champions are blind picked so that the enemy team has no idea which champs you are playing until the game starts, and all characters are allowed.  In the ladder ranked matches, there is a new draft mode that allows each team to ban 2 champions from the list that neither team can play.  Players then take turns picking their champions and both teams are able to view selections in real-time.  This gives teams a chance to counter the build of the other team by picking particular champs that may prove better against certain match ups.  The final difference in the ranked matches is that once a champion is picked, it becomes off limits for anyone else to play on the other team, where in regular matches the same champ can be played by opposite teams at the same time.

Along with ranked games, there is advanced stat tracking so you can keep track of how well you are doing in a variety of areas, and break down the data by champ to see which ones have been performing better for you.  Season one also allows you to the ability to click on your friends from your buddy list and examine all their stats as well.  I think my only gripe about the stat tracking is that there really isn't any for the unranked games after the season one patch.  I think it would be nice for the data to be available for the non-ranked games because it would give people under level 20 a way to monitor their own performance (only your win total is tracked).

Overall League of Legends offers the same sort of service with their PvP.net as I saw with Starcraft 2 and Battle.net.  They feature interactive friends lists, a matchmaking system, and ladder rankings for competitive play.  Starcraft 2 comes with a $60 price tag (but includes single player campaign) while LoL is and will always remain completely free to download and play.  A lot of free to play games come with a catch of a cash shop where you can spend real cash for goodies that can give unfair advantages against non-paying people, but this is not the case here.  While the option is available for you to spend real money in their shop, the only thing in the online store that requires real cash in order to purchase are different skins for your favorite champs to make them look different.  Everything else in the store can be obtained just by playing the game for free.

In conclusion I would definitely recommend League of Legends to anyone looking for something to play.  It's free price tag, fun gameplay, and competitive ladder matches make it well worth the few minutes it takes to get it up and running.  The number of champions combined with the various item build, rune layouts, and mastery specializations help to add several layers of customization that theorycrafters will sink their teeth into.  I find it funny that my guild originally started playing this to kill time for Starcraft 2 and now many of them prefer this game.  If you decide you want to check it out use THIS LINK and maybe I'll see you on the battlefield.

Paragus Rants
Co-Leader of Inquisition

Rant: The "Real ID" Debacle

In an absolutely stunning announcement on July 6th, Blizzard has released the details of their "Real ID" system that is set to roll out across all of the games. The new system will mandate the use of subscribers real world first and last names in order to get functionality and access aspects of its services. The core of the announcement reads as follows...

"The first and most significant change is that in the near future, anyone posting or replying to a post on official Blizzard forums will be doing so using their Real ID -- that is, their real-life first and last name -- with the option to also display the name of their primary in-game character alongside it. These changes will go into effect on all StarCraft II forums with the launch of the new community site prior to the July 27 release of the game, with the World of Warcraft site and forums following suit near the launch of Cataclysm. The classic Battle.net forums, including those for Diablo II and Warcraft III, will be moving to a new legacy forum section with the release of the StarCraft II community site and at that time will also transition to using Real ID for posting.

The official forums have always been a great place to discuss the latest info on our games, offer ideas and suggestions, and share experiences with other players -- however, the forums have also earned a reputation as a place where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild. Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven’t been connected before. With this change, you’ll see blue posters (i.e. Blizzard employees) posting by their real first and last names on our forums as well."

The announcement goes on to say...

"With the launch of the new Battle.net, it’s important to us to create a new and different kind of online gaming environment -- one that’s highly social, and which provides an ideal place for gamers to form long-lasting, meaningful relationships. All of our design decisions surrounding Real ID -- including these forum changes -- have been made with this goal in mind. "

Following the announcement and the details of the new system, the World of Warcraft forums have erupted, with the discussion thread growing to well over 1900 pages with the overwhelming majority of customers expressing outrage at the new policy. Clearly this announcement puts the online community at a pivot point in terms of online privacy.

Frankly I'm completely baffled at the rationale behind this decision. Do they honestly think that by requiring people to post under their real first and last names that it will generate a more beneficial discussion? I think pretty much every MMO gamer knows that most of the Blizzard forums are notorious for trolls, but it comes with the territory of having such a massive subscriber base. I think most people would agree that more extensive forum moderation is a better solution than having your customer expose their real identity to the wilds of the internet. If anything, I'd wager that a policy of this nature would do more to stifle communication based purely on the fact that people are not going to be willing to expose their identity just to voice an opinion, concern, or report a bug in a video game.

Just how exposed are we once our name gets out there? I'll use myself as an example. I've used the name "Paragus" or "Paragus Rants" as my character / forum name is pretty much every MMO I've played since 2004. On every forum for the MMOs I have played, my signature has pretty much been identical. A simple google search of my gamer name pulls up forum posts from almost ever MMO I have played since using the name, including Darkfall, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, and Aion. "Paragus" is simply a gamer name I've used for a few years, but when you imagine giving anyone access to the same information with a name used for your entire life, and the prospect becomes uncomfortable to say the least. The internet never forgets, and this is why anonymity in cyber-space is in everyone's best interest.

One quick anecdote on how a little information can go a long way. Back when Darkfall first launched with it's limited release, much of my guild was camping out on the account page trying to catch the store online like many others. One night while I was asleep, the store did manage to pop up for a short time while some guildmates spotted the opening. My house phone rang in the wee hours but I didn't get out of bed. Apparently one of my guild members had used the internet to find my house phone with little more than my name and general location. While I didn't get out of bed, I was fortunate that this person is someone I've known online for years, but at the same time disturbed at how easy it was for someone to get that type of information. (I don't even know my own house phone number by heart!)

You don't need to really have much of an imagination to start thinking of ways this can go wrong. Let's put aside the fact that ID theft is one of the fastest growing crimes around, and think of some of fringe elements of gamers. With your real information floating around, it's not a stretch for some nerd rager to come looking for you. Women on the internet will now have a harder time hiding that fact from internet weirdos. The possibilities are practically endless.

I haven't been a World of Warcraft player since 2006, but I am someone who is a prospective customer for Starcraft 2, as well as many in my guild. This sort of news has caused a lot of my guys to pause and reconsider if they still want to purchase. I'm sure a lot of us probably will, and just avoid the forums hoping this tactic doesn't spill over into other areas. I don't really think that we need Blizzard to create the next Facebook in battlenet, but that's just my 2 cents.

Maybe I'm overreacting, but I am curious to hear the thoughts of this community on this topic. What say you?

Paragus
Co-Leader of Inquisition

EDIT July 9th:  Looks like Blizzard has listened to reason and reversed the decision to go through with this.

Rant: MMO Insanity

Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result.  It doesn't take a genius to take a step back and see how this can easily be applied the MMO developers, as well as those of us who follow and play the games.  I believe that when you take a look at the genre over the course of the last 5 years or so, that a definite pattern can be seen that shows a series of events that loop over and over again.  The outcome of this cycle seems to leave both developers and gamers surprised and burned, and for whatever reason both seem to try the same thing again hoping that somehow this time will be different.  This my friends is MMO Insanity, and it's time to stop the madness.

Last week I had a lengthy vent conversation with some younger people who expressed to me their excitement about Star Wars: The Old Republic, and how their expectations were through the roof.  It's definitely not an uncommon sentiment on a lot of the forums these days.  As I look at the front page of MMORPG.com, SWTOR is the most popular game in development and over the last month is the most looked at game on the site.  When I asked to have them explain to me why they were so excited, I was given a list of reasons that matches up with what I read on the forums here on a given day, but also fit perfectly into the cycle of MMO insanity.

Now let me preface this going forward that for the purpose of this article, I will be using SW:TOR as an example because at the time of me writing this, it is the big "AAA" MMO that seems to have everyone talking.  It is not my intent to slam that game because frankly none of us have played it.  It is my intent to try to show from an objective point of view how what we see today fits into the cycle of MMO insanity.

The IP

One of the biggest lures to the game is the fact that it is Star Wars.  Most of us are nerds here, so its safe to say that Star Wars probably has a high favorability rating with people in these parts.  Growing up, I was a fan of the tabletop Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer, Conan the Barbarian, Matrix movies, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek (not really), etc.  The fact of the matter is that despite no matter how much I was fond of any of these worlds, they translated into MMORPGs that frankly sucked ass.  More often than not, we find ourselves playing the same game over and over again, even using the same exact button mashing combat system, but with a different theme (park).

What is even more frightening to me is the thought that despite this, developers are still trying to do the same thing with every random IP they can get their hands on.  I remember reading a few months back about the prospects of a Twilight MMO, a Dragonball Z MMO, a Warhammer 40K MMO, maybe Harry Potter, where does it end?  It doesn't end because developers know that there are those among us who will be blinded by our passion for the IP and not notice how shallow or linear the game behind it really is.  Even if you end up quitting in the first few months, they succeeded at the cash grab for the initial sales.

Think about for it a minute.  All of the above IPs had the rights snatched up by someone for the sole purpose of selling an MMO to you by capitalizing on your fondness to them.  If you get these IP-based MMOs and remove that lore, more often than not your stuck with a game that is over-instanced, extremely linear, has shallow gameplay, and button-mashing thoughtless combat. Ironically these features can be found in pretty much all the MMOs people refer to as being "AAA".

The Developer

One of the most common defenses for having unrealistically high expectation for the next "AAA" MMO is because it's being made by company "ABC", and they made this other great MMO that I loved!  I've been in this genre since around 1997, so maybe its just me, but how many of the "AAA" companies have released more than one highly successful MMO? If anything, we should know by now that past performance does not guarantee future results.

I remember when Warhammer was coming out and everyone was praising Mythic for making another RvR MMORPG all these years after DAOC.  Ah, good old DAOC, often considered as one of the better PvP MMOs to have come out.  Then along comes Warhammer, based off an IP that we all loved from the tabletop games.  How could it possibly go wrong being made by the same people who brought us DAOC?  Without going over all the specifics, I think it's safe to say that this one turned out to be ass when they took everything that was good about DAOC and left it out of WAR.

I remember Everquest, everyone loved Everquest back in the day!  Many years passed and we found out that the people who helped make Everquest formed a new company and were going to make a new MMO after all these years.  Brad McQuaid told us about his vision for his upcoming game Vanguard, although the source of the vision was never confirmed.  Somehow I don't think it included all of the employees being herded out into the parking lot and fired as the game went down the toilet.

I remember Asheron's Call, probably one of my favorite all time MMORPGs.  Turbine was years ahead of its time in terms of the world, character development, monthly patches, and events.  Years later we hear Turbine is finally going to make a sequel, Asheron's Call 2.  There's no way they could screw that up right? After all they had Asheron's Call 1, all they needed was to update the graphics a bit and they'd have a winner.  Asheron's Call 2 has been long dead and somehow the original is still online and operational.

Without going on all day, history shows us that most of these companies turn out to be one-hit wonders.  Past performance does not guarantee future results.  It is for this reason I look at a game like FFXIV and SW:TOR with skepticism.  FFXI to me was one of the best PvE MMOs ever created, but the pattern speak for themselves and history shows we can't give anyone a free pass.  SW:TOR will have EA stamped on the box, which is enough to make me squirm before going any further (even if its next to Bioware).  Again for whatever reason, having one of these big name companies stamped on your box somehow makes your game "AAA".

The Cost

Anyone else notice that the next big thing seems to cost a lot more to make than the previous big thing? I remember hearing about how expensive WoW cost initially to make, hearing later that it was dwarfed in comparison to the initial costs to make Age of Conan and Warhammer Online, and now hearing SW:TOR could be upwards of 150 Million.  Does anyone else find it ironic that the game that spent the least amount of money initially of those listed above turned out to be the most successful?  Could it be that there is not a correlation between dollars spent and final quality?!  Who would have thought such madness, the world must be upside-down!

As the budgets for making these games goes up, it has to become even harder for them to make the game profitable from a business vantage point.  The cost to buy the box or client for an MMO has pretty much been the same over the last 5 years or so ($50), and the subscription fee seems to universally be about the same as it was years ago ($15), so how do they expect to pay for this?

The answer is hype. EA stated that they are hoping for 2 million subscribers for SW:TOR, but think they will need over 1 million to reach the break-even point.  In order to rope in that many people, they don't need us drinking the kool-aid, they need us chugging it. It's going to be their job to spend the next year trying to appeal to your love of Star Wars, show you all kinds of fancy trailers, and crank that hype machine to overkill.  But hey, this kind of budget is what we expect from what is considered to be a "AAA" MMO.

The "AAA" Myth

What exactly makes a game "AAA"?  When you think about all the games being heralded as "AAA" in the recent years, many of them go hand-in-hand with bombing in the market.  There is always the huge initial surge of sales, and usually at the 60 or 90 day mark, 70% or more of the people have jumped ship. This to me sends up a red flag whenever I hear someone throw around those 3 letters to sell me on the quality of the game.  We have accepted this as the norm today for all MMOs because we have been stuck in the cycle of MMO insanity for so long.

The entire "AAA" is a myth to me at this point.  As I look back at the cycle of what are supposed to be big reputable companies, spending tons of money, milking famous IPs, I can't help but think we need to stop the madness.  There is nothing wrong with being excited about an upcoming MMO and wishing it the best, but sip the kool-aid slowly before you chug it.  MMORPGs are on of the fastest growing genres in PC gaming, and as customers we need to let them know that our money needs to be earned based on the merits of the game, not the IP, whose behind it, or the amount of cash being thrown around.  If you chug the cool-aid every time you see it, they will keep selling us the same uninspired generic garbage with a different name on the box, and this genre will continue on its death-spiral into mediocrity.

Paragus
Co-Leader of Inquisition
www.inqguild.com

Review: Bad Company 2

As a follow-up to my previous rant regarding Modern Warfare 2, I wanted to take some time to give my review of Bad Company 2 for the PC.  Now I know I normally don't talk about non-MMO related games here, especially given the name and nature of this site, but this is a game that seems to be getting a lot of play with my guys and around the gaming community.
 

One of the main differences right out of the gate between BC2 and MW2 is that the folks behind BC2 had enough common sense not to roll the genre back decades and opted to use dedicated servers.  This means that maximum players allowed into a game is 32, and that server admins can police their own servers and tweak the game settings to their liking.  While 32 is not as high as some other games out there, the size seems to be a decent fit for the maps given their size.

In addition to the standard server structure, Bad Company also features a friends list capability that adds a variety of functionality to the game.  For starters, the standard friends list shows you when your friends are online and what server they are in.  The online leaderboard also has an option that lets you see just your friends so you can see how you stack up against your buddies, as well as where your crew ranks in the overall scheme of things.

Of course we have to remember that this game has EA stamped on the box, which means you should expect the usual variety of bugs and malfunctions with a lot of these features.  We had the joy of logging in one day to have all of our friends lists completely erased for no reason at all.  The friends list itself often times chokes when you try to join a game your friend is in.  Browsing for servers can often times be annoying as servers often times don't display the proper ping, and there is no search filter checkbox for hardcore mode.

The good news is that along with the hair pulling bugs with the interface around the game, someone had the good sense to add an MMO-style patcher to this game.  One of my main beefs with some of the previous Call of Duty games was scouring random websites trying to find the right patch, and not having download and install properly (I don't use steam).  At the time of writing this, the game has already been patched twice, which is shocking from previous experiences with EA game.  At the same time though, the game still suffers from a slew of random bugs that find me and my friends being random dropped to the desktop or disconnected with no real explanation.

The controls in the game are overall good, a little bit more sluggish to me than what I was used to from CoD.   The knife for example does not seems as fast and fluid as it was in Call of Duty, but the rest of it seems decent for the most part.  Bad Company 2 lacks the ability to lay down into a prone position, which put me off a great deal in the decision process buying the game.  Once I played it though, I got used to it and certainly don't miss the "dolphin diving" that plagued many of the old Battlefield games.  I also don't like the fact that there is no toggle for crouching, and non-toggle for aiming.   I would prefer to be able to press crouch once and stay crouched, and the opposite with scoping as I prefer to hold the mouse button to zoom aim.  Hopefully a future patch will add these to the game.

Gameplay

Bad Company 2 features 3 main game modes for online multiplayer: Conquest, Rush, and Squad Death Match.

Conquest is the standard battlefield type game you'd expect from previous installments from other games in the series.  It features an open-style map with 3 or 4 control points to be fought over much like the Call of Duty mode Domination.  The 2 teams fight over the various points trying to flip control while depleting the enemy's respawn ticket count until the game is over.  The maps overall are larger than the standard CoD maps, but they aren't quite on the massive scale of what you would expect from Battlefield 2.

Rush mode features a more linear style map where one team attacks and the other defends 2 control points.  The defenders must try to defend the 2 points from being destroyed until the attacking team depletes its supply of respawn tickets. If the points are destroyed, the attackers get a refill on tickets and the map unlocks the next stage with 2 more points.  This process repeats until the attacks take all the points or run out of tickets.

Squad Death Match are smaller scale games in which 4 squads consisting of up to 4 players each (16 players max), fight in a smaller area for the purpose of seeing which squad can get X amount of kills first.  The maps are taken from map pieces used in the other 2 modes.

One of the main features of Bad Company 2 is the use of destructable terrain.  This basically means that any wall or obstacle can be complete destroyed if it sustains enough damage from a rocket launcher or tank shell.  I have to say that this feature really redefines the way FPS are played and will hopefully be played from here on.  Playing the same map over and over again in other games can be tiresome because certain spots are always used, and the strategy becomes stagnant around those spots.
 

This feature changes the dynamic and adds replayability to the maps.  If someone hides behind a wall, instead of waiting for them to reveal themselves, you can just destroy it!  Trying to get inside of a house but don't want to use the door?  Blow a hole in the wall and make your own door!  See a house full of scumbags you want to kill?  Level the entire house!  That's right, in Bad Company 2 you can completely turn a building into a pile of smoldering rubble if it sustains enough damage.  Even trees can be toppled over from explosives or plowed into with a tank.

Bad Company 2 also features a leveling system for progression and the use of kits as found in previous Battlefield games . The 4 kits are Assault, Medic, Engineer, and Recon.  Each seems to have their own role in the battle and different tools in terms of weapons and gadgets to help make them good in certain situations.  The more you play with a particular kit, the more of that kits weapons unlock and become available to you.

The game also has a reward system of achievements built into it that reward your character for completing certain milestone tasks.  These range from getting X number of kills with certain guns, collecting certain pins, and performing other various tricks.  These rewards are neatly displayed on a page in the interface so you can track your progress and take a look at what you want to shoot for.  A lot of these awards will reward you with a substantial amount of points as well which makes them even more attractive than just the usual e-peen stroking.

One thing that really annoys the hell out of me is the fact that the game does not save your kits when you join a new server.  I don't know if this is intended or a bug, but this combined with some connection issues can make this a major annoyance.  Bad Company 2 lets you switch your kit everytime you die, so I like to set up all my kits before I start playing since I tend to switch between them a fair amount depending on the map or battle situation.

Final Thoughts

Overall Bad Company 2 is a solid FPS that offers a nice diversion from whatever MMO you are playing or in between.  The game has stunning visuals and sounds, and the destroyable terrain adds a new element to the genre that I hope will become standard.  I'd definitely recommend the game, but be prepared to deal with the slew of bugs and screw-ups that come standard to a box with EA stamped on it.  Hopefully they will continue to take an aggressive approach to patching, because the game is a blast to play when it actually works properly.

Paragus
Co-Leader of Inquisition
http://www.inqguild.com

Darkfall's Trial and Interview with NEW

It was a little over a year ago today that I opened my review of the Darkfall beta with "Darkfall Online is a game that is not for everyone."  A lot of you have followed my blog closely (thanks for your support) despite the fact you may not play the game and didn't want to risk trying it without some form of a trial.  Well apparently now you can find out if Darkfall is in fact for you for only 1$ for a one week trial.

Yes it is not free, but given the nature of the game and the fact that the trial does not seem to place any restrictions on you, it seems like a fair offer.  If there is one thing you might have learned about this game from reading here and certain reviews out there, it's that one week is not enough time to even come close to seeing all that this game has to offer.  Despite that, I think it should give curiosity seekers a good chance to get a handle on the games unorthodox controls, feel for the gameplay, and a chance to wander around Agon's zoneless and open world.

I've always believed that your first day in Agon is usually the hardest. To take the edge off getting murdered while you grapple with the controls, Aventurine has finally patched in their new player protection system that should give you some breathing room is those rough first few hours.  You can identify these fresh players by the halo-like symbol over their head, of which I have seen quite a bit of lately.

Despite having the trial and the initial safeguard, learning the ins and outs of Darkfall can be overwhelming, especially for players accustomed to theme-park MMOs which have saturated the genre the last few years.  Lucky for you, there is "NEW".  NEW is clan of players who are dedicated to showing you the ropes and exposing you to aspects of the game (on both servers) that you might otherwise not see initially.  They offer up to 30 days of membership to help teach you the ropes, after which it is up to you to find your own path into the world.

Instead of me trying to tell you what NEW is all about, I figured it would be best if I tracked down their leadership and let them explain some of the specifics for themselves.  I traveled over to Hammerdale to visit their city and got to spend some time checking our their facilities and activities.

1) Tell us a bit about the purpose of NEW. Why was it started and are there any restrictions to joining up?

Fury Mortis – Newborn on Agon [NEW] is a clan on the North American server that was formed to aid the new player experience. With its harsh environment, quirky UI and steep learning curve, Darkfall can be a real challenge for beginners. Every time we lose a new player it puts more pressure on Aventurine to "Trammel the game up" to increase its appeal to the masses.

NEW was started as a joint effort, and officially kicked off when Elder Saurcon (Lords of the Dead) purchased an account and created the “New SupremeGeneral” character. With the support of Black Shields, Grief, Apollo, Imperil, Dominion, and too many other clans to list, NEW acquired Hammerdale at a very low cost. When the sticky post went up on the NA-1 forums and people could see that this was an honest effort, donations quickly poured in from across the community.

The only restrictions to joining up are that you are a relatively new player and that you agree to the rules on the website.

2) Tell us a bit about the services NEW offers and how owning a city has contributed to your mission.

Spewart thePunisher – New offers its members a place they can come to ask questions and get advice, either via clan chat or voice chat using the Mumble program (also hosted by lotd.org). Hammerdale provides new players (and visitors) a player city with a workbench, enchanting station, laboratory, anvil, oven, fighter trainer, master mage, and a farm. Our city is open to everyone, whether they are in NEW or not. In addition to its amenities, the city serves as a gathering place where people can trade, group up to fight tougher mobs, and help defend each other from the occasional PK raid.

Mycke Soulslayer – Without Hammerdale, NEW would be a little more than scattered new players getting war decked and ganked in NPC cities, pretty much more harm than good.

3) How many people roughly would you say have joined up with NEW and graduated since its inception?

Fury – Clymene Darkwind (our first Counselor) had the foresight to set up a google spreadsheet to track members’ join dates and progress. As of today we have 1,437 names on this list. All non-leadership members have a defined time limit in the clan; so far 1,043 members have graduated.

4) What are some of the most common questions and issues that you see get brought up by new arrivals?

White Knight – The most common question of new players is why they can’t fish, lol.

Spewart – "How do I get a mount?", "How do I make gold?", "Where is Hammerdale?" and tons of questions about the alignment system.

Fury – The biggest issue for new players right now is the difference between veteran players HP and beginning players HP. The formula should be changed to 250 + 1*vit + 0.5*str + HpSkills. It’s not the first thing they notice, but when they realize the tremendous gap between the total health of veteran players and new players, I believe it turns some casual players (the base of MMORPGs) away from the game.

5) Community support for NEW seems to be very strong on both servers. Do you find that many players or clans give NEW members a pass when it comes to attacking and ganking out in the world?

Buadthan Ludhurst - I think a lot of clans give NEW members a break; for example they will come up on there mounts chasing you and then stop, or start attacking you and then see the tag and stop. Some will send you a tell and say they are sorry and didn't see your tag, others will pk you but revive you because they really don't want to pk new players they are just looking for PvP. But on the other hand, we do have clans that specifically target us for pk'ing and raiding because we are a clan of new players.

6) Do you find that the majority of people who join up stay for the entire period, or do most end up leaving for other clans before their time is up?

Mycke - In my short time period many leave early. I believe this says we are doing our job well.

Skarth Manadragon - Most players seem to join another clan when their time is up or almost up.

7) There has been a recent movement by some of the veterans to donate gear and ready bags to help your cause. What is the best way a veteran player can donate and make sure their contribution finds its way to new arrivals to the game?

Spewart - I wouldn't say the movement to donate gear is recent. We've always enjoyed fantastic support from most of the other clans. If you want to donate gear to NEW, the best way is to come to Hammerdale and speak with a clan officer. If your clan lives far from Hammerdale, you can still help the cause of retaining new players by donating to random noobs (not necessarily NEW members) in the racial starter cities. One fun way is to find a group of newbies by a bank, load yourself up with gear, hit one of them and let the towers kill you. They will loot your tomb dry in seconds.

8) With the new trial program and new player protection for Darkfall, a lot of people are starting to give the game a closer look. Do you have any advice to the new players to the game or those sitting on the fence considering jumping in?

White Knight - The advice I give to new players is to just play the game and enjoy what Agon has to offer. It will take you some time to build a character but you can have an impact in the game right off.

Spewart - I recommend that people spend a day or two in their racial cities doing some of the simple goblin quests, etc. just to get familiar with the game. They should pick up the six "title quests" from their racial capital city during that time (just get them, no need to complete them). Then join up with NEW (ideally on Tuesday, since we graduate you on the 5th Monday) and come to Hammerdale. The main thing is to remember that this is a great game with a hard start. If you rage-quit early, you'll miss the good part.

Mycke - Darkfall isn't about always winning it’s about always having excitement. Sometime that excitement is “pwning” your enemy and others times its getting away from someone you know will kill you, or just dying to them giving it your best shot. No one always wins in DF.

Skarth - Get used to the idea of using voice chat programs like Ventrilo, teamspeak, or mumble. It's a requirement for anything group related.

Fury – Go to this website http://newbornonagon.guildplex.com/. Review the hosted training videos, links to guides, install Mumble and apply to NEW. A complete list with all responses to this interview from the NEW Counselors is on the forums.

Final Thoughts

If you have been sitting on the fence about trying Darkfall, there really is no excuse for not taking advantage of the trial and the services being offered by NEW.  I'd recommend looking for one of their community publishers be it from a blog you support (No, I am not a community publisher) or shop around for a player offering you extra goodies. If you are already an established player reading this, then I urge you to help donate gear to our new arrivals and help any questions they may have.
 

If your getting worn down by the so-called "AAA" MMOs from huge studios with massive budgets selling you the same linear and shallow gameplay over and over with a new name on the box, then I highly recommend dropping the 1$ to see what the fuss is about.  Darkfall is the only game my guild has played in the last few years that has held us for longer than 60 days, and it's a reminder to me of what this genre used to represent and could become again someday.  Even if you end up hating the game, you won't find a week's worth of entertainment this cheap anywhere else.  If you do decide to check out the trial, I'd love to read your comments here or answer any questions you might have.

Paragus
Co-Leader of Inquisition
www.inqguild.com

Darkfall: Progression and Sieging

It's been a little over 2 months since I have rerolled fresh on Darkfall's NA server, and almost a year since the game's initial launch.  Today I want to just give my thoughts on character progression, take a more in-depth look at how the new siege mechanics are playing out from the last expansion.

Character Progression

At the time of my last write-up, I was about 2 weeks into playing my new character.  Now that I am past the 2 month mark, I want to talk about the progression my character has made to help give people a rough idea on rate of character development.  Let me preface this by saying that everyone develops at different speeds, and even in my own guild there are wild differences in some of these areas between my friends.  Since everything you do in Darkfall seems to raise something, results are bound to vary based how time was spent in game, as well as the amount of time played.  I've played pretty actively, logging in pretty much daily for several hours at a time.  Your results may vary depending on how much you play and how your time is spent in-game, this is just a snapshot of where I am personally at this stage to help give a general idea.

Let's start off by taking a look at where my stats are currently after about 10 weeks of playing, and compare it to where I was at my second week of playing.  The 10 week stats factor in me having a +4 Vitality quest title enabled.  I decided to focus on my archery skills and magic skills pretty heavily over my melee.  This path combined with the fact that I did not spend nearly as much time harvesting as my guildmates shows why my Strength and Wisdom are dragging behind.  Some of my friends who took a more melee oriented approach have much higher strength and vitality, and as a result more HP than me.

My heavy focus on Archery initially has made Dexterity one of my higher stats, and since shooting bows also seems to raise Vitality to a lesser degree, there is a substantial gap between my Vitality and Strength.  Archery has been an extremely useful tool for PvE, and seems to be the fastest path to doing damage in PvP for a newer player.  Compared to magic, archery is relatively cheap skill to work on with the cost of arrows being low, and many of the lower end monsters dropping arrows.  All of these factors made me want to get maxed out here early on, and it has been a boon for my ability to farm cash from some harder monsters as well as being more useful on the battlefield.

I decided early on that magic was going to be another priority for me because of the utility of tools it gives you in terms of buffs, damage, and healing.  The problem I had initially was trying to decide on which schools to focus on.  This indecision on my part led to me leveling up some of the elemental schools to mid range while I tried to decide what exactly I wanted to do, and as a result my Intelligence climbed to being my highest stat.  Ultimately I ended up focusing my efforts on Necromancy just because I wanted try a school of magic the rest of my friends hadn't really delved into.

The speed at which skills raise above 50 slows down a fair amount, and even more so at 75. This can make reaching some of your skills goals pretty grindy in some cases. The good news is that skills raise substantially faster when used on monsters, but for a magic school like spell chanting (focusing heavily buffs) you really aren't able to take advantage of this in a practical way since it makes little sense to buff a monster.  I wouldn't mind seeing some of the skills get a slight increase in leveling speed in the 50+ range.

Overall in terms of feedback in this area, I think I'd still like to see stats raise a bit faster up until around 40 to help newer player catch up a little bit, although I recognize there are many who would argue that it is fine the way it is.  One of the main concerns expressed from potential and newer players is the amount of time it takes to become "viable", and I think increasing the stat gain at the lower end will help curtail those concerns to a degree.  That being said, my guild of mostly rerolled characters has our fair share of wins when we travel together as a group.  I'd definitely recommend new players take the time to watch the "Accelerated Character Development"  videos that outline a path to getting key skills as efficiently as possible.

Siege Mechanic Feedback

I glossed over the new siege mechanics in my previous article because at the time I had not experienced it enough first-hand to feel confident enough to be able to talk about it.  During my time playing, I have had a front row seat in the Mercenary Wars that have been taking place on the NA server, which some would argue is the server's first world war.

In a lot of ways I think I like the overall direction of the new system compared to the old one.  Specifically the new system doesn't allow for a siege to hinge on a single person's connection, an issue which was responsible for a lot of sieges being completely wasted under the old system.  The new system also gives people enough time to make preparations inside and outside of the game to prevent a holding being ninja'ed in off-hours.  As someone who used to own a hamlet when the game first released, I was constantly nervous that I could wake up on any given morning to find us not owning it anymore.  These key changes are definitely a step in the right direction, but there is always room for improvement.

To help broaden my perspective on areas of the new system that could use improvement, I turned to players in the alliance leadership of the opposing sides in the recent world war.  Since the bulk of the sieges under the new system have been in some way related to their conflict, and considering they have been hired to get involved in sieges outside of their own war, they seemed like a good source for extra feedback in this area.

The mechanic for "bind kicking" players bound at a holding has been a heated topic of conversations lately.  The current mechanic for kicking a clan member off your holding bindstone can be used as a fast means of transportation.  A clan leader can kick a member off of one holding, and retroactively bind them at another holding owned by their clan across the world.  I believe this to go against one of the game's basic principals in regards to the difficulty of travel, and it also allows clans with multiple holdings to have a massive advantage that I am not sure was intended.  As a result of this, some of the more active clans are able to meddle in the affairs of others across the world with relative ease and without the risk and time of traveling. Instead of being able to be kicked from one holding to another, players who are kicked from a clan's bindstone should instead be retroactively bound to the closest chaos stone in order to prevent it being used as a means of super transportation.  This will also help conflicts stay more localized and regional in my opinion.

On the topic of localized conflict, one of the changes in the new siege system is that notifications regarding attack windows are broadcasted server-wide.  This tends to turn sieges into a magnet for third-party forces to come interfere knowing that they will likely find lots of geared people on the battlefield.  It could easily be argued that this may not necessarily be a bad thing, and it may be the intention of the broadcast, but combined with the bindkicking abuse, it can really empower certain clans to get involved in literally everything with minimal risk and time invested.  If the bind kick gets fixed this probably wouldn't be as much of an issue, but right now it makes the stronger clans with multiple holdings across the world able to cause gridlock in the conquest system by constantly being able to easily interfere in everything no matter how far from home it is.

One of the features of the new system is that one of the methods for declaring a siege involves dropping a stone on the ground within a certain radius of the holding being contested.  These stones replace the previous mechanic that had sieges hinging on a single person's connection, and in addition they can act as bindstones for the attackers to set up a forward base of operations.  The problem is that if an attacking player opts to bind at these stones and is killed in the field, they are pretty much screwed when they respawn at these stones because there is no bank for them to be able to regear.  Respawning near the battle naked doesn't really do a lot of good considering the odds are that your body is unrecoverable or looted.  I would suggest adding some sort of mobile siege bank that could be destroyed to make these more viable as binds (maybe can only be dropped within a few meters of a siege stone, but not right outside of the holding).  Since these are often time viewed useless as a bind, it can make it overly tough for an attacking force to overwhelm a massive defending force who has the luxury of a bank to regear.   Allowing allies of the attacking guild to bind at these stones would add some value as well, especially considering all of the defender's allies are able to bind in the city.

This leads me to the next issue.  One beef relayed to me by the alliance leaders was the fact that once a siege has been declared, the defender can ally up anyone they want to jam pack their holdings bindstone with upwards of 200 people.  Combined with the above current siegestone mechanic, this can put the attackers in an almost impossible position when trying to take a city.  If that holding all of a sudden has 200 active people bound there because the owners allied half the server, it can be near impossible to fight against such a large number of newly bound outsiders who can regear and respawn on site.  A suggestion to curtail this would be to not allow a clans to ally up while under a siege. This enables them to still use diplomacy to get assistance without giving an unfair advantage to a defender who already has innate benefits in a siege situation.

Another minor issued brought up to me was the in regards to the usefulness of cannons given the cost it takes to construct them.  Cannons only have a very limited number of shots before they become rendered useless, and once they are dropped they are effectively gone forever.  Given the cost of making cannons, the alliance leaders suggest that the amount of ammo in the cannons be considered for an increase (doubled or tripled) to make their value more in line with the cost to build them.

The final suggestion from the alliance leaders would be to implement some sort of mechanic for a clan to transfer ownership of a holding to another without having to go through a fake siege.  With all the wheeling and dealing in Darkfall, it has become a common for clans to want to pass ownership or sell one of their holdings.  It would be nice for everyone involved if there was some kind of mechanic in place for a clan leader to transfer ownership to another without going through the hassle of the current system.

Final Thoughts

The increased rate of character development make Darkfall much more appealing now than it was back when it launched almost a year ago. Aventurine seems to be making strides to improve the new player experience, and seems to have a lot planned for it's second year. The character advancement speed could be a bit better in some areas, but a unique and rewarding experience awaits the new players who have the courage to take the plunge.  The new siege system is a step in the right direction, and recent patches has squashed a lot of the virtual memory errors that plagued some users during the more epic battles. As long as Aventurine listens to feedback from its players, I see no reason why Darkfall won't continue to grow as it is continues to offer a unique gaming experience that has been lost in a sea of copycat theme park titles.

Paragus Rant
Co-Leader of Inquisition
www.inqguild.com

Darkfall: Community Q&A with Aventurine

A few weeks ago, the Darkfall community expressed an interest in getting a chance to fire off some questions to Aventurine about a variety of gameplay topics as well as some of their future plans.  I passed along the idea to the devs, and they agreed to field questions from the community of current players.

After the questions were posted, I compiled them all together and screened out the duplicate topics and overly vague questions and passed them along to Aventurine.  I also made each player sign their in-game Darkfall name to their submitted question for accountability reasons.

So let's turn things over to Aventurine!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We made an effort to answer every question sent to us as well as we could. If we seem vague or incomplete on a few things, it’s because they aren’t finalized. Tasos Flambouras, Claus Grovdal and Kjetil Helland participated in this Q&A.
 

What are your future plans to assist new, or returning, players with catching up to veterans in a realistic time-frame? - Wrafe Prevails

We’ve done several things already such as increasing skill gains, increasing skill gains on PvE, increasing monster drops, skill books, attribute consumables etc. and we’re constantly evaluating this making all necessary adjustments.

You can be viable in Darkfall and you can do things and access all areas from day one. You can PvP on day one and you can actually hit other players. You can man a cannon, you can ride a mount, sail a ship you can participate in a massive battle and contribute to it even beyond reviving friends and finishing off enemies. We’re mentioning these things because we’ve done a lot of work so that you don’t actually need to catch up to actually be a part of the game.

What is the main focus for expansion number 3? (Any hints would be great) - Cattboy SiN

An extremely ambitious Darkfall project we’ve dubbed Darkfall 2010 with serious improvements across the board, so much so that it’s impossible to choose one main focus. In Darkfall 2010 we focus on everything.

I would like to know if herbalism is going to get some love in the near future. - Ford Perfect

Herbalism is useful and balanced for what it does, but we’re always looking into improving trade skills. We have some major improvements for trade skills underway which target their depth and add a lot more items to the game.
 

Will the game continue to head towards fast transportation and globalization or can people expect a return to reduced transportation and a return to regional conflicts? - Comrade Zaffa

This is it for now. With the addition to the game of global PvP events such as Sea Fortresses, the Village Control Points, Trade Routes, as well as with the Dynamic Lore Events, we wanted players to be able to get into the action relatively quickly. Even so, “fast travel” in Darkfall isn’t that simple, it needs planning and can always be disrupted by other players.

Will the wonder cost every be reduced, if not, I would like some clarification on what the wonders actually do. Yea, they give a global bonus, but I am sure most would agree that one of the main reasons why no one has ever made one was beacuse we don't want to waste 15k mods, to find out its a +3 global bonus. - Keno Lair

We are considering reducing the costs of wonders. There are 9 Wonders, in 9 cities, for 9 attributes. Wonders do give global bonuses but it isn’t +3, more like +20 and they’re stackable.

Is there any intention on letting people put spell upgrades on ray spells/spells that you currently cannot upgrade/jump cast? - Nacitar Sevaht

Not for the time being

Are there any plans to further improve the economy/trading in DF? - Drasked Guillotine

Yes this is one of the things we’re focusing on actually. We’re improving monster drops and especially rare drops. We’re planning a huge itemization boost almost doubling the amount of items in the game. This will mean more ingredients, more recipes for crafting, and this should help diversify the economy significantly. We’re also planning on Clan Vendors. We’re planning on player/clan vendors in capitals and possibly in clan cities. You need to compete to secure a vendor spot in a capital, or you need to earn one.

These are just some of the direct measures we’re taking to improve the economy.

Can players expect to see an Armor dying system, or some guild identifying crest, or some kind of visual? - Line Six

Yes we are currently testing our system for armor and clothing dyes in conjunction with the sweeping changes in 2010. The colors are craftable and not all colors are created equal.

Are chat bubbles (togglable on/off) for immersion's sake (and roleplaying clans) being considered at all? - Noc Tyerlan

We’re considering them but for now there are no plans to add chat bubbles. It’s not a technical challenge; our issue with chat bubbles has to do with gameplay. If we did implement them, they would be opt-in both ways and they would be as Darkfall friendly as possible. We would rather improve communications without having to use them but we’re not ruling them out either.

Are there plans to changing the alignment system or making it be more attractive to be a non-ARAC clan or less attractive to be ARAC? - Kasmos Melanoma

This is something we’re looking at. If we did anything it would be introduced in a mild way. We’ll also offer an option to select a different race for a small charge. Compatible race clans may already have an advantage when it comes to Dynamic Lore events.

Is there any plan at all for more types of craftable armor or weapons anytime in the future? - Soulless Avenger

Yes, tons

Can we expect to see further player impact upon the world? Eg. Extinction of mob spawns, capture of NPC cities by other races, clan control over regions etc. - Ymgarl Thakgrush

Yes. Starting with the dynamic lore system where players can seriously impact the game’s lore and events happening in the game, it’s in our future plans to allow our players to increasingly affect the world.

Will people that own houses ever be able to use houses from their friends (without transferring their houses to a 3rd player)? - Wyverex Erisian

No, you’re supposed to make a choice. Transportation should not become that easy especially with village control points at stake.

Will the sliding corpse bug ever be fixed? - Fain Arthadar

Yes and it won’t just be fixed but it’ll be replaced with something very cool.

Are there any plans to add a more customizable rank system for clan? For example player made ranks to open the gate. - Torinar Blackhammer

Not in the immediate future but there are huge improvements under way for clans

Will anything be done about clans being able to wardec another clan and immediately start attacking them in NPC towns with no worry of the tower attacking? - Neza Lycore

Yes this is something we’re working on and will be addressing in the near future

With the onset of the new patch, villages and trade routes have not turned into the PvP hotspots that some hoped for. Is there anything in the works to promote PvP hotspots or anything of similar nature? - Syloc deKGB of the Knights of Glory and Beer

The villages and the trade routes, and the Sea Fortresses are only part of the process. Each one adds its contribution to increasing PvP and PvE opportunities in the world. We’ll keep working on improving and adding more. We’re currently working on introducing dynamic PvP opportunities to the game.

Any plans on adding functionality to show when clan members logged in last time? - White Box

We’re looking into it.

Demigods; I know this was originally a planned feature for Darkfall, is this something you are still planning to implement or has the feature been totally scrapped? - Igh Agag

We are totally planning to implement it as planned. Demigods are a part of a bigger design a part of which is the Dynamic Lore System. The Demigods will be introduced when it’s time for them to be introduced.

When will you actually implement the Anti-Aliasing? - Ninogan Swiftstep

Darkfall 2010, along with Directx 11 support and many other goodies.

AV, are there any plans to get rid of "random rare drops" and make items like gathering/crafting tools, house stations, accessories, and possibly houses themselves craftable ? - Ray Pew

We’re not going to get rid of random drops but we’re planning on substantially increasing the craftability of items.

Are there plans to rebalance Alfar racials like how the lore states (global magic ability that increases and decreases based on tribute to the Gods, etc.)? -Amrah Punjabi

No but we’ll add more racial abilities in upcoming expansions.

Could you describe your plans for further marketing of Darkfall and give any timeline for a US box release? - Garful Greatforge, Heroes Fate

We’ve been steadily increasing our marketing spend across traditional channels as our subscribers are steadily increasing. We’re also working on alternative marketing schemes like the Community Publishing program which is going extremely well. We’re speaking with several partners concerning a N. America box release but we can’t give an ETA on that yet.

Is Aventurine considering introducing some type of skill point cap for players? - Agricola Augusta, MAG

We’ve addressed this issue many times, and what we prefer to do instead of imposing limitations on player freedom is add features like specializations for example. We have several further initiatives planned for the near future.

Is 10k players online simultaneously on 1 server still something you consider may happen in Darkfall? - Neptun y3

This is something that has already happened. The question is how much higher we can go.

Do you have any plans to make Rare Ores a little bit more available to the world at large? - Rivers Keylak, SG of Nemesis

Yes we do, we’re considering adding a chance for rare ore drops in regular nodes.
 

Any plans on making ships more accessible by removing or easing the astrolabe requirements on more than just the raft? - Meaty Maggnus

Yes we have slowly been increasing the drop rates of astrolabes.

What are your plans if any to ensure that new players will be able to have fun in the beginning of their Darkfall experience? - Lady DDT, Blackshields

We believe that this is one of the very few MMORGs where players can have fun and be viable and useful from day one. The game is designed for it. You can jump right into the action and make an impact unlike most MMOs that force you to reach this or the other milestone before you can even think of participating.

Now if you are referring to making the game more newbie friendly, then we’re planning several improvements in 2010

After soaking in the new patch for a few weeks now it has become apparent that even with specializations the dominate style of play is hybrid. Does AV feel that this is the play style that should dominate or do they plan to continue to balance the specs. and game so that we see more defined roles? - Chief Thunder, VAMP

We’re continuing to balance the specializations and we’re introducing new ones. This is a gradual step process. We’re moving towards more defined roles and introducing longer term choices players will be asked to make.

Wandering mobs were mentioned before the release of CtS. Is this system 'done' with wildlife, or are there plans to bring actual wandering mobs to the game? (something as simple as goblins traveling between spawns to more complex examples like orcs rallying into a horde to attack a city/hamlet). - SynCaine GodHand

As with most things we do this is the beginning of a process.

Mage Killer's 40% damage increase at the cost of mana and the elemental magic schools requires users to wear heavier armor (plate/full plate). The 40% damage increase is negated however by Full Plate armor due to encumbrance. Is there any testing and rebalancing in the works for Archery Specialties such as opening up elemental school buffs or allowing more than 1 specialty to be chosen at a time? - Fibin Stonesmasher

We’re currently testing adding one extra archery specialization in addition we’re also introducing new specializations including new archery specializations.

Will the community see scavenging (breaking down of completed items into their raw mats) in the near future? - Alaron NeX

Yes this is a feature we’re currently working on

Will we be able to bind multiple actions on one key (change weapon and skillset at the same time for example)? - Elessar Lorwyn

Yes you will.

Any plans to implement a tiered clan bank access system? - Mobed Starr

Yes

What other "advanced" mounts (besides Battlehorns) are waiting in the wings, and when may we expect to see them in game? - Ktorr Shadowfell

We do have new mounts on the way but we don’t want to reveal anything right now

Has there been any thought into combining the destroyer/indestructible skills and/or allowing them to be permanent bonuses against all players(even those without staffs out (for destroyer)?. - Strife Aldaelon, Sinister

Perhaps, or perhaps we’ll do something with a similar effect. We’re currently investigating all specializations introduced while keeping the upcoming specs in mind. We’re balancing it up against the new things that are going to come.

 
Are there any plans to make the game more friendly towards non-hardcore players? (i.e. more customizable options for housing, things to do besides pvp.) - Conn Bloodbane

Yes we’re always adding more things and we’ll keep adding elements to make the game friendlier to new players, solo players, and more casual players.

Any plan to make it so that your enemies cannot use your clan bank? - Big Badaboom, Section 8

Yes but you’ll have to upgrade your bank.

Is 4-legged run still being considered as a racial trait for the mahirim? - 50 Cent

This is a very difficult feature to balance. We are still considering it and it’s actually developed and ready to go. We’ve already started with the racial differentiations, we’ll keep adding new ones, and if we can ever balance this properly, then we’ll add it.

Will there ever be any continuation between the east/west or north/south edges of the world (allowing travel around Agon in circles from one edge continuing and appearing on the other edge)? - Vucar Dumat

No there won’t be.

Since we've seen the game become more about alliances than individual clans, will we see any features aimed more towards alliances? More political tools, in game political map, shared city buffs, that sorta thing. - Rahkim Whitehawk

Alliances are informal so far, we may take some steps to formalize them a bit. We are considering offering an Alliance Map for starters.

Are there plans of making/adding more complex dungeons to the world of agon, maybe with some levers , triggers, traps etc. - BLOB Lukic

Yes, we have big plans for dungeons in 2010

Is a new chat window being worked on? The current one makes it almost impossible to see incoming tells or local chat because it defaults to a new tab. - Signus Melkorr

There are sweeping changes for Darkfall 2010 and these include everything associated with the user interface

Are you planning on diversifying the different melee skills by adding unique attacks/moves or specializations for each weapon type? - Erwin Carius

Yes we’re planning on both

Do you feel that polearms are underpowered and intend on tweaking them some more? - TNoD X, VAMP

Polearms were considered grossly overpowered. All we did was slow them down by 11% and everyone now thinks they’ve been seriously nerfed. We’re always working on balance; we’re always investigating discrepancies and making changes wherever we feel they are necessary.

I seem to remember new spell school(s) being hinted at. Are there currently plans to put in new "schools" of magic? If so can we get an example of one or two spells from these new school(s)? - Kelsen Ravenheart

Part of a larger plan for the future that we cannot discuss yet, but it’s definitely on our list.

Thanks for your time!

Paragus Rant
Co-Leader of Inquisition
http://www.inqguild.com

Review: Darkfall Revisited

It's been a few months since I last played or wrote about the status of Darkfall and recently a bunch of my guild decided to scout out how the game has progressed in the last few months. With news of the second expansion, we decided to jump back in about a week before Conquer the Seas went live to get an idea of how the game has matured since the NA launch.

What I am going to go here today is gloss over just some of my personal observations on some of the changes that have been added since my last time I played, which was before the first expansion and NA server.  I've noticed a lot of people on various forums and communities asking about what may be different now, so hopefully this will shed some light. I also have to mention that in my return to the game, I have opted to reroll and start a new character from scratch as a different race (Alfar).  This should help add some extra perspective since this will be from the vantage point of what many new players may experience.

Skill Gains

Quite possibly the biggest change I noticed in revisiting the game is the ease and speed at which players are able to advance their skills.  During my last tour of duty in Darkfall, the game was plagued with people who would use "blood walls" to gain skills while AFK. One of the most welcome changes is the fact that blood walls are pretty much a thing of the past or drastically diminished.  Aventurine not only changed the speed at which skills are gained, but made it so that many skills will increase up to six times faster in PvE.

As a freshly rolled new character, I was shocked to see how fast my melee, archery, and magic skills were advancing compared to what life was like months ago.  I had never macroed last time I played and I remain determined to never go down that road.  These new changes seemed to have reduced a lot of macro activity drastically because the game now has major incentive for players to go out and PvE instead of macroing inside their cities.
 

To help put this into perspective, I will give some examples of where some of my critical skills were at the end of the first week.  I spent most of my PvE time in the first week fighting goblins and skeletons, both who seem to drop arrows and go down pretty easily.  At the end of the first week, I was able to raise my primary melee skill to a 40, and my archery skill to a 50 just living off of the bows and arrows dropped by these mobs. My lesser magic shot to over 80, and my greater magic to around 50 with a bit of effort. Previously reaching these skill levels without macroing would have taken me upwards of a month or more depending how much time I spent focusing on them.

The only real hurdle I think for new players in terms of character advancement is raising their base stats.  Players who have been around the block a lot longer have a significant advantage here because higher base stats leads to having a higher max HP.  I think I'd like to see them make the stats increase at different speeds depending on how high they are.  As an example, maybe have stats raise much faster between 15-30, then maybe only slightly faster from 30-40, and keep it as is now beyond that.  This could help newer players catch up a bit, but this is just my personal suggestion.

Quests

Who would have thought anyone would have cared about doing quests in Darkfall?  Since the last time I played I have noticed a lot of new quests, especially in the early part of the game experience.  These quests seem to do a nice job at teaching new players some of the basics of the game's fighting, harvesting, and crafting.  They also help give the players some basic tools and cash to help get them going.  Each starter town has the same quests, but new players can travel to each of the towns and do them over again for an added gain.

The most substantial quest addition comes in the form of title quests that are available in every race's capital city.  These quests will have you out fighting literally hundreds of PvE mobs, and reward you with thousands of gold and titles that boost your base stats.  While there is a title for every one of the base stats, you may only have one equipped at a single time.  Upon completion of the basic title quests, players receive followup quests that chain together to get better titles that add even more stats with more cash rewards.

The icing on the cake in this area is that the Conquer the Seas expansion seems to have revamped the in-game quest journal.  The old slow journal was often clunky and awkward to navigate, while the new ones seems to load faster and has a much cleaner look to it.  While Darkfall still remains to be a game that is not heavily quest oriented, it's good to see the journal more user friendly because it a part of the game that new players will probably be interacting a fair amount.

Character Specialization

One of the new aspects of Darkfall that has popped up over the last few months involved new forms of character customization that allows you to tweak various aspects of your character.  While Darkfall has no skill cap, the new system in place still add an element of choice to what type of character you want to play without having to worry about hitting a skill cap.  The character specializations introduced seem to offer way for players to fine tune their magic, melee, and archery in ways that help set them apart from others and fight against certain play styles.

In terms of customizing magic, there is a system in place that lets you tweak the properties of many of the games spells.  Many spells have several different variations that can be purchased for 1000 gold per spell, but you will have to pick a choose because the game only will allow one modification per spell.  Spells can be modified to have their range increased, travel speed increased, or the ability to cast it while jumping.

Archery specializations allow players to pick one special ability from a list that have a variety of effects.  Players can now decide if they want to be able to jump shoot, shoot in water, have increased magic resistance, or do extra damage against casters.  All of these abilities have trade-offs as well such as mana penalties and limited spell access, but the option remains to switch should you want to change your mind.

Finally melee specializations offer players a variety of options to make melee viable as combat method. Players can chose from some mobility related options that allow them to double jump or double tap dodge FPS style, as well as a second group of choices that increase effectiveness against mages or defensive boosts. Melee offers 2 different groups and players are allowed to chose only one from each forcing them to decide which route they want to take.

PvE

PvE seems to has had some changes made to it as well. The recent patch has introduced a system where monsters have varying strengths and weaknesses with different types of damage. The new system reminds me of old Asheron's Call where lugians would take extra damage from lightning and so on. This adds another layer to the PvE side of the game that should hopefully make certain mobs easier to kill once their weaknesses are discovered.

The other interesting and I think needed PvE change is an overall boost to the rewards.  There were many mobs last time I played that simply were not worth killing due to the rewards they dropped.  Monsters overall seem to be dropping more cash and items making it worth the time and trouble to tackle some of the harder monsters in the game.  It's not perfect yet, but adjustments continue to be made in this area so I remain optimistic.  I think my only beef with the PvE at this point is I would like to see more camps of some of the easier monsters in places outside of the starter areas.

Conquer the Seas

One aspect of Darkfall's world that sets it apart from most of the other MMOs is the fact that the water areas of the map are viable playfields.  The new expansion seems to have introduced a variety of new elements to these watery areas by adding the Sea Towers, villages, and even a kraken.  I thought of doing write-ups and taking pictures of these to try to describe them, but instead I will direct you to watch some of player made videos floating around showing some of these features off, as well as some of the game's first real naval battles.

Kraken Video

Sea Tower Video

Naval Combat Video

The patch seems to really opened up a new aspect to the game as you can see in some of the videos here, and I would argue makes the game offer something that you really won't find in any other game.  I think I speak for most players when I say that I hope this aspect of the game really takes off.  They seems to have reduced the cost to make the ships which helps foster this sort of activity.  I think I would like to see the astrolabes become easier to obtain as they are required to build most of the game's ships, but I think most players find this aspect of the game very exciting.

Minor Changes

Given it has been 2 expansions since I last played, there tons of little things that have been changed for the better.  I couldn't possibly list them all here as this is getting a little long as it is, so again I'm going to gloss over some of the minor things that I have noticed at this early stage.

In the recent expansion, one feature added that made everyone in my guild sigh collectively was the ability to name and label your bags.  It may sound trivial, especially if you have never played Darkfall, but this is one of my favorite new features.  No more trying to fumble through my bags trying to remember where my tools or armor is located, a task which can be even harder when you have bags within bags.  It makes sorting your bank much easier and it also makes it easy to tell what belongs to who in the guild bank.

The map was also updated to show where the capturable villages are, but more importantly when each of them is vulnerable for capture.  This is critical because now the players can keep track of when they should make their move to try and grab one.  With the information right there for all to see, it also helps to spur more PvP.

Mounts have also changed in a few ways. For starters, mounts now have a weight of 100 kg. Under the old system it was not uncommon for players to travel with upwards of 3 or more mounts on them at a time. Consider that a new player can only carry 300 kg, when you factor in armor and other gear, the days of people riding around with an entire stable in their pack are over. One change I am not too fond of however is the fact that mounts no longer seem to regenerate their life. Players are forced to use the heal mount spell, which can be an annoyance especially if your near a place where someone can steal it. If I can regen my life, I see no reason why my animal can't even if it is very slow. A new mount was also added that costs more to make but also has improved stats.

Crafting also seems to have received one improvement I suggested in an older article.  Crafting a lot of items, such as arrows, was annoying because you had to sit there and click the craft button every time you wanted to make 20 arrows.  Upon my return I was very happy to see a new functionality added that allows you to set the quantity to craft and make it happen with only a single click.

Summary

From all accounts, Darkfall has improved drastically since my last time playing.  There are a ton of features I didn't touch on for the sake of time, such as the new siege system (I haven't experienced it first-hand yet), and auto-stacking of items in your backpack, but needless to say this game has come a long way in just the few months I've been gone, let alone launch.

If you are a former player, you may want to consider taking advantage of the free transfers and checking the game out again for only subscription cost.  If you are considering the game, I would say that now would probably be a good time to jump in as I have seen a lot of new players in the starter towns after the expansion went live.  New players may want to think about joining a clan called NEW that is dedicated for teaching new people the ropes for up to 30 days.  If your like me and getting sick of watching the same MMO being released over and over with a different name on the box, taking the leap into Darkfall may be worth serious consideration.

Paragus Rant (Alfar)
Co-Leader of Inquisition
http://www.inqguild.com